


Phantoms.

by mymcnuggiez



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Phantom Ruby, blame leggo she gave me this idea, just wanted to write another songfic, not sure if i'll write a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23134627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymcnuggiez/pseuds/mymcnuggiez
Summary: What if Amy took the Phantom Ruby?
Kudos: 4





	1. Crossing the Line

The sound of two pairs of feet hitting the ground, one pair chasing another. That's how this all starts.

She's panting harshly, a strange, glowing gem held tightly to her chest as she runs as fast as she can, even though she knows she could never outrun him. 

He's barely breaking a sweat, chasing after the girl he's grown to know as a sister, wondering why she was doing this. 

She's jumping over a rock, running down a cliffy path. She's careful not to drop the precious gem in her hand.

He's hoping for the best, chasing her over rocky and dangerous terrain. 

He finally calls out to her, "Amy, wait!" His hand is out-stretched, reaching for her as she's climbing a rock that leads to a cliff with an edge. She barely spares him a glance, scrambling upwards, willing to take any route of escape. "Ames!" He tries again. Finally, she slows, now at a half-way point of the giant rock, a spot with a ledge big enough for her to move. Her back is facing him. "This has to stop now, whatever it is that you're going through! We'll fix it together, me and you, just like we've always done!" He's moving closer to the rock, hand still reaching, trying his best to give her a reassuring smile. "No!" She replies, doing a sharp turn so she can point a finger down at him, the ruby in her other hand. "THIS has to stop now, this thing where you think you've been my friend and don't even hear how you condescend, that way that you've always done!" His face shows surprise, as if he can't believe what she's saying to him. 

"Ames, listen," he starts, climbing forward.

"I'm listening," came her immediate reply, Amy standing her ground.

"I know it isn't true," he continues.

"Isn't it?" She returns. 

"Just look into my eyes now," two pairs of green eyes meet.

"Well?" She queries.

"I know you feel it too," he's getting closer, voice soft.

"Perhaps I do," she's calming down, shoulders sagging.

"Ames, listen," Nic is climbing onto the ledge now, rising to stand and out-stretching his hand once again.

"I'm listening," she's beginning to sound annoyed. Was he talking to her like she was some sort of child now? She had been listening the entire time.

He's coming closer, that damned smile on his face once again, making her look down at the ground to avoid looking at it as he places a hand on her shoulder, "I swear it's not too late. So, before another line gets crossed, and everything we've had is lost, just wait..-"

"Wait-?" Suddenly, she's slapping his hand off of her shoulder, an angry expression on her face as she glares up at the blue hedgehog. She's raising the phantom ruby, the feeling of it's energy surrounding her as she finished crossing the line, claiming its power for herself. "NO, I won't wait!" Suddenly, he's being pushed away by fake rocks made by the ruby, Amy safe and sound on the ledge as he's pushed off and forced to roll down the rock, acquiring many scrapes and bruises. "Ames!" He yells in alarm.

Amy stares down, eyes ablaze with anger. "There's a line between the winners, and the losers. There's a line between the chosen, and the rest." As she talks, she gestures between them, giving herself the negatives and Nic the positives. "And I've done the best I could," she continues, the hand holding the ruby in the air lowering, but never softening it's grip on the object, "but I've always known just where we stood. Me here with the luckless, you there with the blessed."

Nic is trying to stand, but he can tell that something is broken, namely his arm and a rib or two. He's on unsteady feet, a hand holding his chest as he stares up at her with wide eyes filled with mixed emotions, the two biggest ones being sadness and fear. 

Amy is rising into the air, quills rising above her and flying in every direction, as if she was underwater. "And that line between the beggars and the choosers, is a line you never quite let me ignore. How I've tried to jump that great divide! But I've never got the chances you were given, you don't know how much I've been denied!" She continues to rise into the air, and despite his pain, he's running up the rock again, determined to reach her and stop this disaster before it ever truly started. 

"Well.. I'm not being patient anymore!" Suddenly, she's stretching her own arm out and there's a wall of rock blasting him back to the ground, a grunt of pain escaping him as he once again falls. "I'm crossing the line! And I'm done holding back, so look out, clear the track, it's my turn!"

She's turning to the cliff at the top of the rock, flying towards it. As she reaches it, she drops down, staring down at the blue hedgehog from her much higher vantage point with a smug grin, hand stretching out again to trap him in a rudimentary cage of rock spikes. 

"I'm taking what's mine, every drop, every smidge! If I'm burning a bridge, let it burn! But I'm crossing the line! As for us," another gesture between them with her free hand, "if we're over, that's fine!" The same hand gives a dismissive wave, as if she doesn't care that she's throwing their friendship away.

"Amy, wait!" He's reaching his hand through a gap in the spikes, stretching his hand out one last time.

She turns away, flying into the air one more time, leaving Sonic behind. "I'm crossing the line!"


	2. Waiting in the Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when you face a memory and realize it's one of the last memories you have of your father?

This damned ruby. She's starting to think it's more trouble than it's worth. No matter what she tries, she just can't get it to work. Why won't it WORK?

In a fit of frustration, she throws it at a wall of the abandoned warehouse she had set herself up in. She knew as soon as she had snatched the ruby that she'd never be able to return home. HE would have found her, and she refused to fall to his 'charm'. Stupid blue hedgehog.. as if he was really her brother. Just some random kid her mom had decided to grab. Wasn't she already good enough for her mother? Why would her mother need any other kid? 

She shook her head to try and dismiss the thoughts, but it didn't work. All it did was lead her down a path of mental destruction, and her memories began to turn towards her father. At least she knew he cared. He left only because he had to! She's sure that he would have stayed, and that he would have chosen her over any other kid. He just wanted her to be safe..

As she was thinking, Amy had crossed the room, grabbing the ruby and examining it with a sigh. Her eyes close, and she's replaying the fuzzy memory of her father, the day he left. Not the night he came back to reassure her. That one hurt too much. 

She can feel the room shifting, and as Amy opens her eyes, she gasps. She's in her old living room. How-?

"Amy, sweetheart," that voice. She knows that voice. With tears in her eyes, Amy turns, spotting him. Her father. Without a second thought, she's running towards him, and right as she was supposed to collide with him, she phases through, stumbling on her feet and falling to the ground. As she's picking herself up, she notices it. The ruby is ominously glowing. Did.. she trigger the ruby with her memory? Gently, she turns around, standing on unsteady feet to see her younger self hugging her father. Too busy gaping at the younger version of her, she misses the short look of annoyance and disgust on Amirs face. He's quick to mask it, pulling the child away from the incredibly short hug. "Father has to go, dear. I have very important business to attend to."

Amy watches the interaction, fingers tightly holding the ruby as baby Amy stares up at Amir with a pout, moving to tug on his cape. He's quick to move away before she can, moving towards the door. "But, pa.. you promised we would play a game today-" Her voice is a whisper, and he's talking over her, opening the door. "I'll be back later, dear. Your mother should be home soon, so just wait for her. And clean up, will you? Aria barely spends any time cleaning here.. and you're the only girl left to clean it." With that, the door closes with no 'I love you'. 

But that's okay!, both Amys tell themselves. He's just busy. They know he meant to say it. After all, he's been like this since they were born. 

Gently, the younger version of herself grabs a broom, dusting up the minuscule amount of dust. "Guess by now I oughta know my place," so begins the short process of sweeping, "do your humble duty with a smile on your face." Amy follows her younger self around, holding back tears. If she only knew what was coming.. "Father knows how much I love him. But he's always doing other things.. guess I'll just keep waiting in the wings." The process is over as fast as it begins, due to the fact that there's not really much to sweep. 

The young girl begins to rearrange things, finding the drawing of her and her father that she had made on the floor. Obviously, he must have dropped it on accident, so she moves to put it on the coffee table for now. He'll see it when he comes back home tonight. 

Amy reaches out to herself, the tears falling down her face. "I crave so much, and yet I keep on waiting." She goes to grab the drawing, but her hand phases through the table. "One glance, one touch. And I just kept on waiting." 

At the same time, they speak up, Amy following the young girl who had grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around herself as she settled by the window, waiting for one of her parents to come home. "And when it came, it came with strings.."

They stare out the window together, one with a smile full of hope, and the other with a frown full of sadness. Only one knew what was coming.

"So I kept waiting in the wings," she murmurs to herself as the memory ends, everything fading away with the light of the ruby.


	3. Nothing Left to Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's not a villain, she's taking what she's owed.

He enters a dark cave, one near the top of a mountain. When search teams were being assigned, of course Shadow opted to go lone wolf. Another person would have just slowed him down. 

He can see a red light, deeper into the cave. Cautiously, he approaches, crouching low to the ground. Once closer, the hedgehog hides behind a rock, peaking over to see.. Amy, holding the Ruby and mumbling to herself about something he can't quite make out. Shadow huffed, rolling his eyes and standing, shoes making noises in the almost-silence of the cave.

As soon as the noises start, Amy is making a spike and throwing it in his direction, Shadow dodging with ease. "I thought you'd have better aim than that, Rose." The words could almost be playful, if they weren't said in that deadpan voice of his. He's completely serious, determined to snap Amy out of whatever mindset she's gotten into. Too bad she has no plans of ever leaving this mindset. "You shouldn't be here, Shadow. This isn't a fight between me and you, it's a fight between me and Nic." Her eyes narrow, glaring up at the ebony hedgehog.

He sighs, "Amy, you're angry, I get it. Believe me, I know what it's like, but you are making a big mistake." Rolling her eyes, Amy turns away, walking further into the illuminated cave. Shadow follows, still talking, "The path of hate is a dangerous track, you take one step, and it's hard to turn back." His hand balls into a fist at his side. "It pulls you along, and though it seems wrong it feels right.." Amy groans, not wanting a lecture from the edgehog himself. "Don't you see? The path you're on leaves a permanent mark. It feels good at first, then it slowly turns dark. With each passing day, you're further astray from the light." As Amy finally turns to him, he gestures to the light at the opening of the cave, and something in Amy actually seems to finally understand, as if the entirety and severity of the situation is hitting her. He's approaching again, grabbing her hands and holding them, staring into her eyes. 

"Suddenly, you lose your way, you lose the thread. Lose your cool and lose your head, every loss is harder to excuse. Then you'll see, you'll lose your faith and lose your soul, 'til you lose complete control, and realize there's nothing left to lose." A sigh from the ebony hedgehog as he stares down at Amy's now softened face. "Amy, trust me, becoming the villain isn't the answer." Suddenly, her face is hardened and angry again, hands being ripped out of Shadow's. "Is that what you think I am?" She hisses, giving Shadow a harsh push, actually managing to make him stumble back. She's quick to put distance between them, now on the other side of the cave. 

"The path I'm on is a path paved in black, I'm taking that road and I'm not looking back!


End file.
